Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-255) and index

1. The Era of the Confidence Man -- 2. Hypocrisy and Sincerity in the World of Strangers -- 3. Sentimental Culture and the Problem of Fashion -- 4. Sentimental Culture and the Problem of Etiquette -- 5. Mourning the Dead: A Study in Sentimental Ritual -- 6. Disguises, Masks and the Parlor Theatricals: The Decline of Sentimental Culture in the 1850s -- Conclusion

Karen Halttunen draws a vivid picture of the social and cultural development of the upwardly mobile middle class, basing her study on a survey of the conduct manuals and fashion magazines of mid-nineteenth-century America

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